Maurice Ross backs calls for Scotland to move to summer football

Maurice Ross believes switching to a summer season could provide Scottish football with a much-needed shot in the arm.

Having spent the last two years coaching Norwegian side Sola FK, Ross has benefited from a summer calendar first hand.

He reckons Scottish football should look to emulate the Scandinavian version by running its season over the warmest months of the year.

But in order to make it a viable prospect, clubs will have to put up with a degree of short-term sacrifice.

Ross said: “Summer football could be a good thing for Scotland.

“It would help with attendances, I’m sure, and playing on better pitches is obviously going to be beneficial at every level.

“The problem is that you’re probably going to have a 10-month gap between the end of the last winter season, and the start of the first summer season.

“That’s basically 10 months without income. Can clubs survive on that?

“If they could somehow manage, I think it could be beneficial.

“Looking at the bigger picture, we shouldn’t even be comparing ourselves with England, and the money that’s flooding into their game.

“We should be looking at the Republic of Ireland, and the Scandinavian countries.”

In his two years in charge at Sola, based in Stavanger, Ross has led the club to back-to-back promotions.

And he believes that if Scottish football has a serious desire to better itself, clubs and even the Government could do worse than following Norway’s lead.

He explained: “There’s a need for better facilities across the whole of the spectrum in Scotland.

“I’m at the equivalent of League Two club in Scotland, but it doesn’t have the history or culture of an Arbroath or a Forfar.

“We as a club and a business have zero money, but the local community and the council, put a lot of money into the club to help fund facilities.

“We’ve got an Astroturf area of maybe six pitches I’m talking about kids’ size. Then they’re thinking of putting up an indoor structure, basically a frame with weatherproof material which will be utilised 24/7.

“We’re a 10-a-penny outfit in Norway but that’s what we’ve got.

“In Scotland, where these facilities exist they tend to be run for private profit. Why not take the padlocks off them and let kids use them at night?

“It might never happen. But it would be a step in the right direction.”